Official Comcast CableCard Thread!

New Comcast install on Monday, Installer came with no M card for my new TiVo. He says, just go down to the office and ask for one, so I did. They gave me one and I returned home and installed it(per TiVo instructions). No problem.

I'm curious how other Tivo users who have Comcast feel, but I feel like my experience with Comcast (and by extension my Tivo) has really been an unpleasant experience.

You should not be forced to pay to have an installer come into your house to put in a CableCard. You should have the ability to go pick it up and install it yourself (or better yet you shouldn't have to jump through any hoops to use your Tivo)

The shenanigans Comcast has been playing where they give their Tivo customers two single stream CABLEcards and then charge them for 2 cable boxes on their bill is unacceptable

The fact that they at times have been known to bill people even for their first CABLEcard even though they are required to provide them free by law.

The fact that even though you have an HD Tivo and pay for a pricey cable package, they still expect you to fork over an additional $7.95 a month for full HD service.

I love Tivo and am a loyal user and hope to be for a long time, but the experience of working with Comcast as the cable service provider for Tivo's DVRs has been a lot of hassle.

And don't get me started about the fact that AT&T some how skirted the rules and doesn't have to support CableCards, leaving no company to use our Tivo with other than Comcast.

I feel like the ultimate kick in the face would be for CableCards to be completely discontinued requiring us with Tivo Lifetime service to have to buy a brand new box.

Somehow I still feel like if I could afford it I would still buy a new Tivo box, but I would not be happy about it and if Tivo's quality in any way degraded or there is a competitor that is better and cheaper than them, I would jump in a heartbeat.

Its not Tivo's fault in many ways, but it is a serious problem for their business.

One of the odd things about Comcast and their current attitude in most service areas is that, during the Hearings that led up to the new regs that go into effect Aug. 1, they were in favor of allowing cablecard self-install.

You should not be forced to pay to have an installer come into your house to put in a CableCard. You should have the ability to go pick it up and install it yourself (or better yet you shouldn't have to jump through any hoops to use your Tivo)

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IIRC, new FCC rules will shortly go into effect that require you to be able to install your own cablecard.

The fact that even though you have an HD Tivo and pay for a pricey cable package, they still expect you to fork over an additional $7.95 a month for full HD service.

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I do not pay for HD Service. I have no Comcast equipment in my house (other than cablecards). I have two Tivos and pay one additional digital outlet charge and one cablecard charge ($1.99) for the 2nd S-stream card in my original S3 Tivo.

I love Tivo and am a loyal user and hope to be for a long time, but the experience of working with Comcast as the cable service provider for Tivo's DVRs has been a lot of hassle.

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I can't argue with you there. In fact, the charges I outlined above are only partially correct. Comcast has been unable to actually get their computer to charge me what I quoted above. However, they have admitted as such and have given me a $20 credit/month for one year to compensate me for their error. I also got a one time credit because I had to make two special trips to their office (25 miles away) to try to straighten this out. I finally contacted we_can_help@cable.comcast.com and they immediately called me back and offered me the adjustments.

The shenanigans Comcast has been playing where they give their Tivo customers two single stream CABLEcards and then charge them for 2 cable boxes on their bill is unacceptable

The fact that they at times have been known to bill people even for their first CABLEcard even though they are required to provide them free by law.

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I've seen this multiple times through the years but I finally have my cable bill in front of me so I'll ask. I have two single-stream cards. (I don't believe the multi-stream existed when I got my S3...could be wrong.)

This is what's on my bill:

Dig A/O Cable Card - 9.45
T3ddvrcards - 1.50

Is this right?

I do wish the S3 worked with AT&T U-verse. I'd jump over there in an instant.

Is this Tivo a 2nd (additional digital) outlet or is it your only digital outlet? In my market, additional digital outlets are $7.95 which includes one cablecard. Your S3 requires 2 cablecards and the $1.50 charge sounds like it is for the 2nd card.

If this is your only digital outlet, then you should not be paying $9.45 for it. It looks like they might be charging you $7.95 for an additional outlet and $1.50 for the 1st cablelcard on that outlet. This is contrary to the Comcast FAQ on cablecard charges.

The outlet fee includes the first cable card at each outlet. The normal subscription fee includes the first outlet (and first cc). So for 3 outlets with 3 cablecards, you'd pay whatever Comcast wants for your service tier, plus two outlet fees.

The DTA isn't an HD box, it's a digital adapter to give your old analog standard def TV access to the SD clearQAM digital channels that Comcast is switching over to. DTAs are free where I'm from, but they don't include the entire digital lineup - just full basic (the old analog channels 2-99) plus some additional ones, like CSPAN3 and the alternative locals (e.g., 8-2, 27-3 which are only transmitted up in the 240s).

If you have a Series 2, all you need is the free DTA, no outlet fee and no cable card, if you're happy with the lineup that that gives you.

PS: Sometimes you get lucky and all they charge you is $1.50 for the additional cc, especially if all the TiVos are (could be) at the same outlet

Thanks for the clarification... even if it was not what I wanted to hear. It looks like if I want to switch to Comcast it will be an extra $16/month for the two extra outlets.

One last question: If I take their "HD BOX" (not the DVR) that comes with the package... and use it in conjunction with with my own TiVo on a the first outlet... should I expect there would no extra charges (except possibly for the $1.50 CC charge)? In other words, what should be the difference in paid services between the following two configurations, both with the same 3 televisions.

The Tivo HD and HD XL will not work with a satellite or cable box. They work with Off The Air TV and in place of the cable converter box, not with a cable converter box.

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If your response was to me... in my two scenarios, I am not looking at using the HD XL with the Comcast HD box. Instead, I am looking at using the HD XL in addition to the Comcast HD box. I would have two connections to the cable.... and two connections to the TV for that one location only.

In other words, I am wondering if they will charge me as if I had 3 TVs or 4 TVs.

Each Tivo would be considered an A/O and get charged the full outlet fee (currently $8.50 here I think), except that you might get lucky in some cases and only be charged $1.50 for one of them.

I have two Tivos on Comcast right now and one is included w/service, the other is $1.50. But that's because they put the extra card on as an 'additional card' in the bill. I wanted to add another Tivo late last year and they wanted me to pay the full outlet fee for the third one, so I passed on it. The system would not allow another 'additional card' for the third device.

The idea was that the additional card was for the old S3s that had to have two cards, and if you get lucky with the HDs and Premieres you can get them to add an extra card without the outlet fee.

If your response was to me... in my two scenarios, I am not looking at using the HD XL with the Comcast HD box. Instead, I am looking at using the HD XL in addition to the Comcast HD box. I would have two connections to the cable.... and two connections to the TV for that one location only.

In other words, I am wondering if they will charge me as if I had 3 TVs or 4 TVs.

/Jim

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Yes, I misunderstood your Config 2. I believe you should then pay one primary digital package/outlet fee for the Comcast box, and three additional digital outlet fees (which include cablecards) for the Tivos. However, as others have stated, you may get lucky and they only charge for cablecards on the Tivos.

I think that I am going to bite the bullet and switch to Comcast anyway. I am really disappointed in FiOS since it was sold to Frontier, and the anticipated rate hikes once my price guarantee is over sounds bad.

I loved everything about FiOS when Verizon provided it in my area. I personally care about the internet connection the most... but my wife watches TV. If it wasn't for her, I'd be a cable cutter. My FiOS internet seems to have dropped a lot in quality with Frontier. I now get drop outs even for streaming audio, which I never noticed back when Verizon owned the service.

I think that I am going to bite the bullet and switch to Comcast anyway. I am really disappointed in FiOS since it was sold to Frontier, and the anticipated rate hikes once my price guarantee is over sounds bad.

I loved everything about FiOS when Verizon provided it in my area. I personally care about the internet connection the most... but my wife watches TV. If it wasn't for her, I'd be a cable cutter. My FiOS internet seems to have dropped a lot in quality with Frontier. I now get drop outs even for streaming audio, which I never noticed back when Verizon owned the service.

About $120 + taxes, which for the first year will be less than my current Frontier bill... and then about the same after a year. However, I expected Frontier to go up once my price protection ends this summer so Comcast is still probably less money for the first 2 years. Comcast also offered a $250 gift card.

I never would have switched if Verizon was still running the FiOS service in Portland. I am not going to like Comcast's 250 GB BW Cap... but now that all of my backup data (742 GB) is already uploaded to the cloud, I should be OK unless I switch backup providers.

I think that's more than you should pay.
The first CableCard is included with service. The additional outlet fee includes the first cc at that outlet.
There's a FAQ page at Comcast.com that lays out the charges, but then says "Regulated Prices quoted above may not apply in all markets. Please call 1-800-COMCAST to learn more about Regulated Prices for your area". I'd print out the page and ask some questions. The way I interpret the page is that the fees are different if the local franchise authority says they're different, not just because Comcast wants them to be different.

I agree. Those charges don't sound correct to me. Of course, what they tell you over the phone and what shows up on your bill can be completely different.

You should not be paying a cablecard charge on the first outlet. And the other cablecard charges sound a little steep to me. They sound like addtional outlet fees PLUS a cablecard charge.

I strongly recommend that you examine the rate card for your area. Stop by a local office and pick one up if you didn't receive one in the mail. I nearly always get a new rate card in December or January with my bill or a separate mailing.